Catch a Falling Star

I'm sitting here editing this show about the Arnold Fitness Classic, which has quote after quote from stargazing Arnold-lovers. Apparently Kaleeforneea doesn't share the love:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's style may be getting stale.

He's too interested in PR gimmicks, many voters think, and should be putting more effort into dealing with legislators.

Fewer than half of Californians now approve of the way the governor is handling his job, a sharp decline since January.
Moreover, people think California has gotten off on the wrong track.

I don't think this is blowing smoke. Living in California, I'm seeing the tide on the Guv starting to turn, people starting to wake up from the charm offensive. I think fucking with the nurses and EMT professionals and policemen and firefighters and teachers was the last straw. Once the rank-and-file working class turns against you, there's not a lot of places to go. Especially when your entire agenda consists of repeating movie lines and calling legislators "girlie men" and generally talking down to a good portion of the Dem-identifying electorate:

Ken Khachigian, a longtime GOP strategist and speechwriter for two presidents, says Schwarzenegger "could use some fresh rhetoric. His language is getting a little overused. It was working a year ago, but this mantra about 'special interests' isn't working now….

"It's time for him to give a real thoughtful, contemplative speech about where we are in California and the obligation we have to get us back on the right track…. He can go after the Legislature, but it should be in a more high-minded, contemplative way."

Or, as former GOP consultant Allan Hoffenblum says, "We're looking for a governor, not a Terminator."

Asserts Claremont McKenna political scientist Jack Pitney, a former staffer for the Republican National Committee: "It was normal that the excitement of the early days wasn't going to last. People even get used to a Schwarzenegger administration.

"He's going to have to adapt. He may have to moderate his style. Use fewer [stage] gimmicks. But he's capable. That's the story of his whole career."

I agree that he's capable. Whoever wins the Democratic primary, either State Treasurer Phil Angelides or Attorney General Bill Lockyer, is going to have to run a perfect campaign to cut through the stargazing and beat him. But now it's in the realm of the possible.

Meanwhile Arnold has had to abandon his Social Security privatization-copycat proposal for state pensions. No matter. It was out there as his stated policy, and will be used in '06 in attack ads. Plus, he's not totally abandoning it:

Under pressure from firefighters and police officers, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday backed off, for now, his plan to privatize California's public employee pension system.

The Republican said "misconceptions" among firefighters and police officers that privatization would strip them of death and disability benefits had come to dominate the issue.

"Let's pull it back and do it better," said Schwarzenegger, flanked by more than a dozen police, fire and local government leaders.

He's pulling it back until 2006 because he knows he can't win with the universally-despised privatization scheme as his legacy. But it already is. Any Democrat worth his salt will make the ad "The Governor still wants to take away your disability benefits. He's just waiting until after the election to do it."

I know one thing: Arnold won't be winning a plurality in San Francisco anytime soon. Read the link, a liveblog of Tuesday's protests in the City by the Bay. People are trying to take back the streets in California. It's a long way off, but the tide is definitely starting to turn.